Traditional Muzzleloading Association
Craftsmanship => Gun Building and Repair => Topic started by: ross on January 20, 2017, 09:13:09 PM
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All: Does any body here know when peep sights came into being?????????? I made a simple lollipop style on a threaded shaft and threaded a hole in the tang. put a nut on the shaft to lock it in place. Works great for these 70 yr old eyes. I just don't know the timeline involved. It's on a .40 flint squirrel gun.
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Ross, I don't know if anyone can truly confirm a timeline on this question. I'm of the feeling that if you need a peep sight on your rifle to hunt with, or partake in shooting matches where they are allowed under the any metallic sight rule, then by all means use it. The peep sight you describe sounds as if it would date to one of the earliest types, and one of the more simplest designs, a rather straight forward no non-sense design. :lt th
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Check this site out, it's about the Rigby rifles from the 1860's and forward. They had peep sights / Aperture type sights, but the rifles didn't carry ramrods. This does not mean the idea of rear peep sights didn't spill over onto the rifles that carried ramrods, nor just shot the patched round ball - as where Rigby's shot a conical bullet.
The Muzzle Loading Match Rifle in Great Britain | Long Range Rifles (https://longrangerifles.wordpress.com/reference/matchriflehistory/)
Many of idea's advanced the use of firearms back in the day, just as it does today.
Hope this helps. 
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I'm thinkin' of making a (rather) crude "rear peep sight" similar to the one below,... but using a shallow dove-tail to attach it to the breech plug, on a Lyman GPR. :)
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Thanks all. If I can tigger out how use the camera on this computer I'll send a pic of my sight. Very easy to make.
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If that sight were any thicker, it'd be a tube sight :happy I'm thinking that dovetail would have to be very shallow in that area.
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All: Does any body here know when peep sights came into being?????????? I made a simple lollipop style on a threaded shaft and threaded a hole in the tang. put a nut on the shaft to lock it in place. Works great for these 70 yr old eyes. I just don't know the timeline involved. It's on a .40 flint squirrel gun.
You know, there's a crossbow with a peep/aperture sight in a museum in Jamestown, VA, which has got to be late 16th or very early (1609) 17th century. I'm guessing peep sights are even older than that. Peep sights on long arms? I'm not sure.
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I've got a book around here somewhere that has a picture of some Royalties flintlock with a Rear Peep / or what may be termed today as a Ghost Ring... In good light peeps are wonderful, but in low light they're not that great and this could explain why we don't see many if any on the woodland long rifle of old.